Espionage
by VanillaMetal
Summary: A series of short, related stories, revolving around Dario and his dealings with a sly cartel infiltrator named Safira Lee. Dario x OC. From the movie Licence to Kill.
1. Confrontation

A/N: I've never been a _massive_ fan of Bond, but I honestly adore _License to Kill_ (and though I think all the actors brought interesting takes on the character, Dalton's version of James is my favorite). It freaked me out when I first saw it as a kid, thanks to that decompression scene, and even still I can see just how dark it is. However, that's part of what I like about it. It's a lot grittier than most of the other movies.

Though there is another major reason I like this film, and that's the young and excessively handsome Benicio Del Toro, who plays the main villain's henchman- Dario. I think Del Toro has aged really well anyway and has always been attractive, but he's really in his prime here. So, I was inspired, and after finding only a small smattering of fics about him online I decided to write my own.

These are just a few short, somewhat interlinked stories about an OC named Safira Lee and her interactions with Dario in various scenes inspired by moments in the movie. I may do an x Reader in the future, but for the moment I wanted to utilize this character. I do like the Bond Girls that are already present in the movie but I feel there are a few things I would change about them (unlike a lot of people, I don't hate Lupe and I wish she had more to do). It was easier to create an OC to fit in too, as I doubt Pam Bouvier could get away with passing herself off as a cartel secretary...

I do hope you enjoy this!

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DISCLAIMER: This is purely fiction. I do not own _License to Kill_ or any related properties.

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1\. Confrontation

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"I'm a tool for intelligence, not violence, James."  
The slender woman crossed her legs under the table. The tights she wore clung neatly to her skin, but it was wise not to be fooled by her formal dress sense. She may have been dressed for the occasion, coming to the Bimini Barrelhead Bar that night...but her motives were far different from any other woman there.

They may have chosen to put on sultry dances for the pleasure of the patrons, or to serve drinks to already drunken leches. Or perhaps they had just come here for a good time, spending the early hours with close friends or relations.

Who could say? Whatever these other girls were up to, it couldn't compare to what was on Safira Lee's agenda. What she lacked in brawn she made up for in brains- mostly. There were times when she had screwed up in the past, sure. But she was determined to prove to BLANC (her organization) that she was perfectly capable of collecting intel on this dangerous drug ring. If she could pull this off, they'd surely have to stop doubting her...

"I'm only taking precautions." the rather stern, blue-eyed man glanced over at her. He was dashing in person, but she could tell he wasn't looking for love here. He had a lust for something far more sinister.  
"Taking precautions would be avoiding coming to this place at all." Safira stated, not fond of his fearmongering. Then again...perhaps Mr. Bond was right to be uneasy.

As they were going to set about talking business she happened to glance up and see a dreaded figure walking into the bar. Easily distinguishable. Tall and tan, dressed in red and black. He was a slender man, and not a particularly strong one, but deft with a knife, and he could chill any opponent's blood with that sickening smile of his.

Dario. Franz Sanchez's 'enforcer'.

"You seem tense." James noted the change in her expression, as she looked down at the fine grain of the table. This meeting would be a mess if Dario got involved...though judging by some of the looks she had seen in this place, that had always been inevitable. So much for joining forces- they'd have to do it some other time.

"Change of plans. Are you carrying?" Safira glanced over at him discreetly, and the man hesitated, before subtly pulling open the side of his jacket. She spied the grip and nodded, before he took his turn to ask her:  
"And you?"  
Swallowing uneasily, Safira paused for a moment so she could glance up and keep an eye on Dario. He seemed distracted by something at the front, which gave them a little more time to prepare.

"No. I never do." she confessed, which prompted a look of shock from the man sitting opposite from her.  
"You came here without _anything?_ "  
Safira shifted in her seat, dark, slightly wavy locks shifting around her shoulders a bit during the process. "I...try to avoid any kind of violence. I know I'd lose in a fight anyway...so I try to rely on words instead..."

True, he'd heard she was silver tongued. Words could be powerful too...but they wouldn't shield her from a bullet.  
"Don't do anything foolish." he warned her, then abruptly pushed his drink aside and stood up. Safira frowned.  
"Where are you going?"  
"I need to use the restroom. I'll only be a moment."  
Well, even Bond was only human at the end of the day.

James fixed his collar then looked at her seriously before he left.  
"If anything happens, I want you to stay low and run. Don't bother waiting for me, I can deal with things myself."  
Safira simply nodded. If it came to it. However, she hoped it wouldn't. She had already worked hard to create a good image for herself so that Sanchez would hire her as a secretary for him. He valued loyalty...so she had to make sure she was trustworthy.

This was a little too risky, wasn't it? Meeting a former agent in a public place...  
Her fears were confirmed, when only shortly after James left she looked up and saw the devil himself had finally clocked her.

"Well well well..."  
Dario sauntered over and reached the table. She allowed her hazel eyes to flicker up and see him smirking down at her, his mouth splitting into a grin and showing off his gold tooth as he pulled out the seat beside her and took it. Dario had come alone, but that didn't make any difference to how much trouble he might be. Especially since it seemed some of his friends were lingering in this very place...

"La señorita Lee, is that right?" he placed one hand against the table and eyed her. Safira just stared right back, doing her best to stay calm. Hopefully she could deter him enough to get him away before James came back. They couldn't afford to continue this meeting now that Dario knew they were here...

"Not going to answer? I only want to have a little talk..." the Nicaraguan nasty-boy spoke in his thick accent, and reached up with that same hand to place it upon her shoulder. Safira tensed under it, but still did her utmost to remain composed.  
"What is it you wanted to speak with me about?"  
"Ah...well I heard something _very_ interesting..." Dario purred. Without any consideration for her personal space he just kept his hand right there, even rubbing his thumb around on the skin between her dress strap and collarbone. "About you, and how you might be becoming a part of our little family sometime soon."

'Family'. How sweet.

"Is that so? I would have thought that would be kept private..." she spoke politely enough, and that grin of his grew by a mile.  
"Oh no no, chica, word travels fast you know."  
"I see..." Safira looked away from him, clasping her hands atop the table. His was still on her shoulder, though she could see his other moving for something...

Her throat went dry.

"So might I ask why you were so intrigued? Is it because I'm a woman?" Safira tried to keep him distracted. She probably wasn't going to be able to get him to piss off, but she could at least do the opposite and stall him until James came back, before he tried anything.

"Well, when a beautiful lady decides to join our organization it's hard not to become intrigued." Dario allowed his eyes to scan her upper body, before resting on her face again. "Though I got to wonder, just why did you take an interest in the first place? I guess you know the truth about us, don't you?"

Franz Sanchez was widely recognized as one of the most prominent drug dealers out there, and he had been top of the DEA's list for years. It was hard _not_ to know.  
"I do." Safira responded, pursing her light pink lips as he watched her, unflinchingly.  
"And you still wanna work for an organization like that?"

Honestly, it was no more dangerous than most of the work she already did for BLANC.

"...I can withhold certain judgements-"  
"-For a pay-check, right?" Dario finished her sentence, and chuckled as he did so. His thumb pressed hard up against her bone. "Or maybe you're after something more valuable than that?"

Safira, though she winced with his movements, maintained her poker face. She had practised it for years, and it was pretty damn good. Yet with Dario...it only seemed like he saw straight through it.

Suddenly she inhaled sharply, and her nails dug into the top of the table. Something sharp was poking the inside of her thigh, pressing through the fabric of her tights and against her tender skin. She could feel a tiny prick of warm blood already being drawn.  
He did see. He surely did.

As Dario kept his signature knife trained closely against the inside of her leg he pushed his chair closer to hers and leaned in. She could feel his hot breath dusting the side of her cheek as he spoke lowly:  
"I don't want to leave a stain in this bar, so why don't you come outside round the back with me? I'll let you tell me _all_ your secrets..."

"Ma'am?"  
Suddenly, a blessing from the blue. Just as it seemed she might get a nasty gash in the leg for keeping silent, Safira looked up and saw one of the scantily clad waitresses leaning over the table.  
"Ah, sorry to interrupt but there's someone waiting outside for you? They say they're ready to take you home."

"...Right..."  
Safira glanced back at Dario expectantly, who drew the blade away and shifted his seat to its former position. He tried to play it casual but she could see the blatant suspicion in his eyes. That didn't matter though, not now.  
"I better go. It was nice speaking with you." Safira feigned courtesy and quickly left the bar, heading out to the docks where she knew James was waiting. She also predicted the boat he was manning long before she saw it. Sly dog.

Dario leaned back in his chair once she had left and casually slipped the blade back into his pocket. He knew something was up already...but that wasn't what bothered him so much.

No...the scent of that woman was much more prominent in his mind now...

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If you like my stories feel free to check out the links on my profile. I provide writing commissions and editing/proofreading services too~!


	2. Disloyalty

A/N: These stories can all be taken separately, or they can be connected in some ways. I just enjoy writing these little scenarios.  
I actually re-watched the movie before writing this chapter and the next. Since I'd been looking at that scene in the bar for the first chapter, I decided I was in the mood to just watch the whole thing again.  
I'm totally biased towards Dario of course, but even taking him out of the equation I still think this is the best Bond movie. I paid special attention to the stunt-work and action this time around, and I was really impressed by what they managed to pull off, especially in the finale. Plus you can see Dalton did a lot of the work himself too. Good on him!

I also think this movie has the best theme song as well. It's slightly like _Goldfinger_ in parts (another of my favorites), but it has its own late-80s feel and I love it. Plus, damn, Gladys Knight has one hell of a voice.  
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

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DISCLAIMER: This is purely fiction. I do not own _License to Kill_ or any related properties.

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2\. Disloyalty

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"Loyalty...is worth more to me than money..."

The ground dropped out beneath her feet. What had once been a solid metal floor was now an open rectangle, exposing the cold water beneath it. Although it didn't show itself quite yet, she knew what was lurking in there.

"You know this, don't you Safira?"  
Franz Sanchez- the dangerous man himself- spoke in a thick accent to her. There were several meters between them, and on the other side of the pool was Dario, who stood with the button ready in his hands.

Safira was terrified. The girl was brains, not brawn, and her arms were starting to ache. If she let go though...well...she didn't need to guess what would happen.

"Nngh-!" a grunt of exertion exited her somewhat full lips, as she struggled to lift her legs higher. Her wrists were bound to the hook above, so it wasn't like she had to worry about holding onto anything (though her arms did ache...). No, she had more concern about her lower half, since that was what would hit the water first, and _that_ would serve as a meal for the ravenous shark lurking within the turquoise-tinged liquid.

Dario watched her with a smirk, admiring how she looked just dangling there. Though he had a little worry about how far Franz would take this. Usually he didn't care, and was actually eager to see their prisoners suffer. However, in Safira's case, he figured it would be a shame if she died here. He didn't know why...but there was something alluring about her. It would be such a waste...

"Answer me, Safira." Franz demanded, his blue eyes observing her with unrelenting cruelty. The man could switch his charm on and off like a faucet, and when it wasn't on, he was quite fearful indeed. Ruthless...and she knew this. She knew now how foolish she had been to even risk testing him.

"I'm sorry Franz! I won't go behind your back again! I was just curious!"  
Which was true...to an extent. Curiosity was a part of the job when you were an informer. Curiosity looked like it was going to kill the cat though, unless she did some serious convincing.  
"Curious?" Franz scoffed and placed a hand upon his hip, tilting his head to the side. "Curious about my money? Interesting thing to be 'curious' about..."

Safira gulped, and felt herself being lowered with a sudden jerk. Gasping sharply, she looked down to see the toes of her polished black high heels were almost against the water's surface. It would only take a few more inches, and the shark would be alerted...

Dario was the one operating the pulley too. In her desperation, she shamelessly shot him a helpless glance. When he caught it his pale eyes widened for just a moment, and a brief look of hesitation flashed across his face. But it was gone in an instant, and he just grinned.

"Franz!" Seeing that was no use, Safira snapped her head back around to the head honcho. "Please, I know I shouldn't have looked, but I heard Truman-Lodge talking about how there was such a...large portion of money being offered for your efforts-"  
His efforts with drugs, that is.  
"-as your secretary I didn't want to be kept out of the loop, so I checked!"

After her almost breathless explanation, Franz straightened his head again and glared.  
"Those are my private affairs, Safira. You had no business with them..."  
She swallowed dryly. Was this it?  
"I really ought to have you punished...but..."

Suddenly, he nodded to Dario, who wasted no time in pulling her back up again. Safira was glad it was relief washing over her and not blood-stained water instead.

"...I think that you understand the message now. Do not cross me again."

Franz left her with those chilling words, before going to attend to other business. Tears had pricked her eyes, but she hadn't needed to sob to make him stop. Good thing too, as it was Dario who was left to close the door and free her, and she wouldn't want to cry in front of him.

"Ah...señorita, you really like to take risks, mm?"  
Dario practically cooed to her as he walked over and stood before her. Thankfully the floor was returned to its normal, unassuming state again, and she could stand upon it. However, the dark-haired girl was still bound to the hook, still dangling from it somewhat.

She looked at Dario with derision as he positioned himself in her eyeline and leaned closer. His eyes were a little red-rimmed. Maybe he was tired? Or maybe he'd been getting into the goods...

"Pretty close huh?" he allowed those same eyes to drift down her body, taking in the sight of her as she remained in that awkward state, tight midnight blue office dress and all.  
"...Can you please just get me down?" Safira asked politely, though she had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. Sure enough, Dario just grinned again and clicked his tongue behind his teeth.  
"So soon? But I think you look pretty good this way..."

His hand snaked up to her side and she grit her teeth behind her lips, looking away. When she felt his grip upon her waist she visibly shivered, trying not to let any heat get into her cheeks.  
"Look at me, Safira~"  
He may have purred out those words, but he was serious. Serious enough that when she didn't do so quickly he reached out and jerked her head around with his other hand. Safira looked at him with defiant eyes, but he could see the weakness behind them. How shaken she had been by that experience.

"You're so pretty. It would be a shame to lose you so soon..."  
His hand let go, only to drift up by her cheek and stroke it. She felt his knuckle against her skin, and closed one eye in response. Dario just smiled in a sinister fashion, before pulling away and finally untying her. He mostly remained silent and smirking as he set about getting her loose, but once she could move away and rub her wrists, he turned to her again.

"Don't cross Franz anymore. Just behave."

There was something commanding about his tone.  
She felt like he meant it... 

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~If you like my stories, feel free to check out the links on my profile! I provide writing commissions and editing/proofreading services too~


	3. Spared

A/N: This is the final short, it's been really fun writing these. There needed to be more fanfiction for this movie (and uh, Dario of course). Anyhoo, if you were to relate all three stories to one another I suppose you could say that Safira was trying to become Franz's secretary in the first chapter, succeeded but simultaneously messed up in the second, and has been outed as a spy in the third. As for where James is in this equation, well...he's probably still waiting by that boat at the Bimini Bar...

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DISCLAIMER: This is purely fiction. I do not own _License to Kill_ or any related properties.

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3\. Spared

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"She's an informer! Behind the scenes and everything!"  
Dario's hand was like a claw around her jawline. She could feel his tan fingers digging into the skin around her cheeks as she was held in his arms, Franz looking on with anger while his precious product went up in flames in the background, the processing plant (thinly veiled as some religious place of pilgrimage) in a shambles.

Truman-Lodge had tried to protest about all the money that was essentially being burnt along with it, but Franz seemed to care far less about that. It was true what he said. Loyalty was the most valuable commodity to him.

Safira had shattered her facade when she deliberately sabotaged their show and tell, and she hadn't been quick enough to get away. Now she was going to pay for it, and it seemed that Dario wouldn't do anything to defend her. As much as he had wanted to keep her around before, she had scorned him along with Sanchez. She had lied openly to his face on so many occasions, her whole persona had been fake.

He certainly didn't appreciate that.

"Who you working for!? HUH!?" Franz snapped in her face, but the girl wouldn't say a word. Sworn to secrecy, even right until the bitter end. She already had a good reason to regret getting into this line of work.  
"Not going to talk? Fine." Franz clearly didn't have time for her stubbornness, and he glanced up at Dario, before scoffing with irritation. "Put her on the conveyor belt! _Make_ her talk!"

Dario did just that. Safira squeaked, as ashamed as she might have been about it, as the tall man looped his arm under her legs and lifted her up. She was held over the railing and dropped onto her back, laying on the pathway that eventually led to something rather nasty. A grinder for turning blocks of cocaine into dust. Hardly a place a human would want to end up getting jammed into.

"And if she doesn't talk, she dies." Sanchez added bitterly, before whistling. With a snap of his fingers he left Dario to it, and went to go and try to clear up the rest of the mess.

Safira's ankles and wrists had been bound with thick black cords, and she writhed in desperate fear as Dario suddenly slammed his hand against the button on the wall. She yelped as the conveyor juttered to life and started sending her down in the direction of the grinder. Dario just looked down and watched her coldly, walking along and keeping up with her as she was rolled down towards her inevitable doom.

"Dario, please!" she begged, managing to reach out with some effort to grab the bars and slow herself. He just stamped his dress shoe against her fingers and made her cry. "AH! No-!"  
He just narrowed his eyes...and she could see some pain in them. "Why should I stop? You didn't just betray Franz, you betrayed _me_."

That was true, she had. But she hadn't expected him to care so much.

"Dario, I had no choice, I had a job to do!" she insisted, taking the honest route. As far as she could at least. Her hands were slipping steadily, and were actually forced away for a moment, but she quickly snatched a bar a little further down to stop herself again. "You must understand! You're loyal to Franz, and I am loyal to my organization!"

"Your _organization_ is nothing but a shithouse!" Dario kicked out at her fingers again and made her wince. She started to slip once more. "And you're their biggest bitch!"  
His voice almost cracked for a moment. He was upset.

"You're hurt because I lied, aren't you!?"  
"Shut up! I don't get hurt over _mierda_ like that!"  
"I think _you're_ the one who's lying, Dario!"

That must have hit a nerve. He abruptly stopped kicking her and stormed back over to the button on the wall. She heard a reverberating sound with how hard he hit it, and she came to a sudden stop. No rest though, for Dario was back in a flash and his hand snatched her collar before she could even take a breath.

He hauled her up over to the other side of the bars again, but this time he slammed her back up against them. Dario leaned in so close she could see every shade of hazel and blue in his eyes. One of them was slightly bloodshot, probably from all the stress...

"You just gotta keep breaking my heart, don't you Safira?" he spoke through bared teeth. The girl took a moment to compose herself before she replied...but when she actually did, Dario was taken aback by how gentle she was.  
"...I'm sorry for hurting you Dario, but it was what I had to do. I don't know why you are the way you are...but I know that Franz trusted you enough to take you under his wing. If there's any good you're capable of, at least you can be loyal."

Dario paused, before gripping her collar tighter and lowering his head. "If you had been loyal too then none of this would have had to happen."  
There it was again. That pain in his eyes. She had to question it. She had to wonder why it was there...in the gaze of a sadist...

"You don't...you don't care about me though, do you?" Safira asked, with hesitation. His eyes widened, and there was a long break in the strained conversation before his grip loosened and he responded.  
"If I didn't care I would have let you fall into the grinder..." his eyes averted, "-I spared you so that you might tell me something I wanna hear..."

 _That I love you? Is that it?_

"...And what would you like to hear from me?"  
When Safira asked, Dario looked back at her slowly. His lips pursed, and he gazed at her for a moment. He took in the details of her beautiful visage. Those wary hazel eyes and those lips still tinged with the red shade she had worn for coming here. Always dressing to impress, as if she were a genuine, hardworking secretary, and not a deceiver.

Those same lips seemed to pull him in, and before Safira even knew what was happening he had cupped her cheek and pressed his own against them. He didn't care if he ended up stained with scarlet...he already had a bleeding nose.

Safira had stiffened when he first made contact. It had shocked her, yet in a way it was what she had anticipated too. It was hard to describe the moment when it happened. Seemingly lasting forever, yet over in an instant. His kiss was surprisingly tender.

As he pulled back once more and eyed her, he seemed to be waiting for it. That kiss had been his answer to her question. She could infer what he would have said verbally, and it was exactly what she has assumed.

Before all this, she might have found the notion of loving a psychopath like Dario to be too ridiculous to even consider. Yet...as fairytale as it might have sounded, it only took a simple kiss to change her mind. She couldn't really pinpoint why. Maybe she was just desperate and traumatized after nearly being turned into mincemeat. Maybe she had been taken aback by how gentle he was in his approach, having expected something more rough and forceful. Maybe she was just plain delusional.

Or maybe...  
"...I love you, Dario."

For once...those silver-tongued words of hers were actually genuine.

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Well I am a sucker for a happy ending. I figure it would have been pretty depressing if either one of them ended up being chopped up at the end of this, so I decided to give them a nicer fate. Though I hope they got out of that plant before, y'know, the whole thing exploded.  
If you haven't seen _Licence to Kill_ then...well I don't know why you read this. If you have though, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I also hope you enjoyed reading these three short stories. I could probably keep on writing these pieces for days but I like how neat a trilogy is. When it comes to movies I can't say it's such a good thing, but hey ho.

Anyway, thanks again for reading. Once more, if you like my work and want to support it then please consider donating to me, you can check out the links on my profile. Depending on what you donate, you can get to see new chapters for my stories earlier than their release, and you can also vote on what you'd like me to write next :)  
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Thanks~!


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